Settling Down
by Acaeria
Summary: Everybody's Daemon has to settle at some point. Part of my daemonverse series.
1. Percy & Areti

**A/N: **I'm not on fanfiction very often these days, but this idea came to me and it was too good to pass up. I'm planning to write a HDM/PJO crossover and this is some background material and the character's daemons. If the actual story is up at this point in time (at the time of upload, it is not) beware of spoilers.

**Disclaimer: **Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Riordan. His Dark Materials belongs to Philip Pullman. I own neither.

* * *

**Percy**

_Areti_

* * *

It was probably the worst timing for Areti to settle, in the midst of the demigod's fight for Manhattan, but so be it. She had dived at a monster, clawing its back with her eagle talons, only to twist and fall to the floor, her body in a rat-like shape that Percy didn't recognise. An odd feeling settled around him as he swung his sword, beheading the monster and allowing his daemon to bound over to him and climb to sit on his shoulder.

"So, uh, what…?" Percy asked, spearing another monster that approached them and focusing mainly on his daemon.

"Some sort of possum, I should think," she replied. "We should ask Annabeth when this is over- hey, watch out!"

And they did ask Annabeth, hours later when the dust had settled and it was finished at long, long last.

"Definitely some sort of opossum," she told them. Then she laughed, punching his arm gently. "Took you long enough!" Percy laughed and reached up to stroke Areti's soft fur.

* * *

Areti is a lutrine opossum.


	2. Annabeth & Kyril

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Annabeth**

_Kyril_

* * *

Annabeth had fallen asleep with Kyril pressed against her in his cat form, and awoke lying beside a wolf. He blinked his eyes at her and yawned, showing a long tongue and sharp, pointed canine teeth. Annabeth knew what this was, she knew what it meant, straight away. She reached out to touch those teeth and he licked at her fingers.

Annabeth knew that many demigod's daemons settled late, but Kyril had settled early, as she was only twelve. It was all she could do to wonder what this could mean. Kyril yapped softly and licked at her face, and Annabeth tried her hardest not to giggle. This pursuit failed, however, and she soon woke many of her siblings with her laughter.

"Ky, Ky, stop it!" she gasped at last, pushing the large wolf off her. The canine jumped off her bed onto the floor, allowing her to sit up. Malcolm, in the next bed over, was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Annabeth?" he asked in surprise.

"Malcolm," she said back, pushing her hair back out of her face and slipping out of bed.

"Is that a…?"

"Yeah," she replied, and headed to the bathroom to have a shower.

It just so happened that later that night a boy with the name of Percy Jackson, a boy who drooled in his sleep, arrived at Camp. Little did Annabeth know that this was the most important day of her life, but how could she, after all?

* * *

Kyril is a grey wolf.


	3. Piper & Mukki

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Piper**

_Mukki_

* * *

Piper threw herself down on her bed and sobbed. She felt awfully like a spoilt brat, but it simply wasn't fair! It was the look of disappointment in her dad's eyes that hurt more than the fact that he was sending her away to some so-called wilderness school that hurt the most.

Mukki snuggled under her arm in his squirrel form before freezing, and shifting into the form of a bird. He chirped in surprise and glanced up at Piper, who wiped her eyes and laughed, stretching out her finger to stroke his blue feathers. She recognised the bird as a blue jay, which was strange but nice.

"Is this it, Mukki?" she asked. Her daemon chirped.

"I think it is," he replied, and she laughed through the tears, the taste of snot in her mouth.

* * *

Mukki is a blue jay.


	4. Jason & Prima

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Jason**

_Prima_

* * *

Jason had addressed the Roman army with an eagle perched on his shoulder, and an eagle Prima had stayed through the fight, encouraging the legion to fight on. It was later, as Jason had sat in a cloud of monster dust, covered in golden ichor, that she had finally landed, and transformed into the shape of a lioness. She pressed against his side.

"Well done," she had said softly, licking his cheek with her rough tongue. Jason sighed and scratched her behind the ears, not realising yet that this was it.

* * *

Prima is a lioness


	5. Frank & Avita

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Frank**

_Avita_

* * *

Avita had curled around his neck in snake form as they left the house of the crazy farmer-god, and she remained a snake as they returned to the Argo II. It was only when he awoke the next morning with a snake curled by his head did he realise that Avita had finally settled.

There was an immense feeling of disappointment washing over him, but he forced it back for his daemon's sake. Avita had felt it, though, and he felt her hurt as strongly as she did.

"You don't love me any more, do you?" she asked softly.

"Of course I do!" Frank protested. "Just… it's not what I expected, is all."

"Well then you should learn to expect the unexpected," she snapped, before lowering her head and slinking away into the shadows under his bed. Frank sighed.

* * *

Avita is a paradise tree snake.


	6. Hazel & Quartz

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Hazel**

_Quartz_

* * *

When Hazel had died, Quartz had been with her, doing his hardest to keep her afloat in his dolphin form. When she had slipped under, however, he'd turned back into a cat and snuggled against her, bursting into dust as the last breath left her body.

Seeing Quartz again was the thing that had excited Hazel the most about coming back to life, but she hadn't. She'd waited a week for him to return, but he hadn't, and so she told the lie that he was shy and hiding to anyone that asked. It was hard to speak his name, and she found herself wanting to cry every time she did. She would remain, forever, unsettled and alone.

Percy and Frank had been shocked to find out at first; Percy's Areti had curled around him protectively and Frank's Avita had shifted from a locust to a snow leopard, snarling. Then she had sobbed and they had comforted her, but it wasn't enough, because Quartz was gone and dead, and she was only half a soul.

* * *

Quartz is dead and unsettled.


	7. Reyna & Seneca

**Disclaimer: **PJO/HoO belongs to Rick Riordan; HDM belongs to Philip Pullman. I own neither.

* * *

**Reyna**

_Seneca_

* * *

Reyna was fifteen when she was awarded her place as praetor. As soon as the party was over she'd retreated to bed, breathless and exhilarated. Seneca tried to turn into a cat to join her, but found himself stuck in the form of a German Shepherd, whining as he jumped up.

"Is this it?" she asked him, and he agreed with a sharp bark.

"Come here then," she told him. The bed was really far too small for such a large dog, but Reyna didn't care, because all she wanted was to be with her daemon.

* * *

Seneca is a German Shepherd


	8. Nico & Belissa

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HOO or HDM. PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan and HDM belongs to Philip Pullman.

* * *

**Nico**

_Belissa_

* * *

The picnic probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but they did it anyway. They listened to Reyna's story and told their own, and Nico watched their daemons. Jason's Prima was grooming Reyna's Seneca, as Mukki watched them keenly. Kyril and Areti were sleeping, Areti curled around Kyril's neck. Annabeth stroked the fur of her daemon, seemingly lost in thought. Alesandro and Avita stayed close to their humans, the colourful snake wound around Frank's neck and the squirrel in Leo's toolbelt.

Hazel was watching the daemons too, her expression wistful. Nico felt a pang of pity for his sister, just as he always did. He couldn't imagine living the way she did.

Finally his eyes moved to his own daemon, who was soaring high above them in raven form, enjoying the peaceful skies. All of a sudden, she screeched, and twisted in the air, falling. Everybody's eyes turned to the daemon before glancing at Nico worriedly, but the son of Hades felt no pain; just intense worry and the fear of falling.

Belissa landed on her paws, now in the shape of a sleek black cat. She gave a confused mewl before leaping onto Nico's lap and glancing up at him with amber eyes. Nico could read them as well as he always had: she'd settled, at long, long last.

* * *

Belissa is a black cat


	9. Bianca & Pasquale

**A/N: **I'm calling this chapter the last and adding the label 'complete'; however, as I write the series I may add in a few new chapters, so keep an eye out for that.

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HoO or HDM; they belong to Rick Riordan and Philip Pullman, respectively.

* * *

**Bianca**

_Pasquale_

* * *

Bianca's daemon settled extremely early; she was only eight when it happened. Pasquale turned into a bird she had never seen before, and didn't even know the name for.

"You're a crane," her mother told her later that day before scooping her into a hug. Her mother's mink daemon butted heads with the bird, and that was that.

* * *

Pasquale is a crane.


	10. Leo & Alesandro

**A/N: **It just occured to me that I forgot to post Leo's chapter. So here. I'm working on the main fic at the moment. After three failed attempts, I think I've found a format that'll suit it just fine. But for now, please enjoy this chapter and excuse its lateness.

**Disclaimer: **Rick Riordan owns PJO/HoO. Philip Pullman owns HDM. I own neither.

* * *

**Leo**

_Alesandro_

* * *

Leo was different, he knew that much, and he tried his best to ignore it. It was difficult, however, when his own daemon was one of the things that marked him out as unusual. His mother hadn't minded that Alesandro was male, just like Leo himself, but it had been one of the reasons his aunt had left him to the state after his mother's death (ignoring the fact that the fire had been his fault, of course).

It was one autumn, and Leo was alone, hiding in an alley. He'd run away, again, and he was far too stubborn to go home. But he was cold, and Ales was quivering in the form of a grey squirrel against his chest.

"Can't you go bigger?" Leo asked irritably. "I'm cold."

"I don't think I can," Ales replied. Leo's frown turned into realisation.

"When did-?"

"I can't remember," Ales admitted; his memory had always been bad. Leo said nothing, only curling in on himself more to keep out the cold.

* * *

**A/N: **Again, sorry for the lateness. And I'm working on the main story. I'll post a bonus chapter once it's up.

-Acae


	11. Thalia & Vasilios

**A/N: **The main story, Dream Catchers, is up now. You can go check it out if you want ^.^ For now though, please excuse this short chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I own neither PJO/HoO or HDM; Rick Riordan and Philip Pullman do.

* * *

**Thalia**

_Vasilios_

* * *

Upon waking up, Thalia found that her daemon no longer changed. Vasilios was stuck in the body of a red dog fox, not an eagle like she'd expected. Well, that was fine, she supposed, because when had she ever met anyone's expectations?


End file.
